Asuma asked several more questions in succession, but most of the answers amounted to a single phrase: "I can't answer."
After Naruto and Shikamaru joined them, they stopped questioning the men, left Beizi and his group there for the time being, and held a team meeting.
"Whenever a question involves his origins or the Daimyo, he can't answer. That in itself pretty much proves that his resurrection was connected to the new Daimyo."
Kakashi summed up their findings.
"You said the others' graves were empty too, not just Beizi's?"
"Yes. Judging by what happened to Senior Beizi, the others are probably in much the same state." Shikamaru nodded. "But from the sound of it, Senior Beizi's situation doesn't seem connected to the disappearances at the Fire Temple we're investigating. He didn't refuse to talk about Master Chiriku or the temple members."
"So these might be two separate incidents? First the Fire Temple members disappeared, then someone robbed the graves and resurrected those men? But that doesn't make sense either. If that's what happened, Beizi and the others have only been back for a few days. How did they already become the new Daimyo's subordinates?"
Asuma frowned.
"If they're separate incidents, that makes things difficult. Our trail in the disappearance case has gone cold for now. On the other hand, we might be able to learn something about Senior Beizi's situation by investigating the new Daimyo."
Shikamaru picked up a twig and sketched out their reasoning on the ground.
"Everyone at the Fire Temple disappeared. That doesn't match any of the earlier disappearance cases Lord Hokage compiled. Not only have none of the members returned, but among the nearby villagers and visiting worshippers we questioned, nobody heard or saw any of the noises or unusual phenomena reported in the previous cases."